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This anthology charts the history of English formal poetry - poetry written within the restraints of form - in Singapore. It features poems spanning 80 years, from extracts of Francis P. Ng's 1937 epic F.M.S.R. to Alfian Sa'at's Pantun As Haiku from two years ago, passing along the way through sonnets, stanzas and sestinas, in what is likely to become a valuable reference for students of local literature.

During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore in World War II, a young Tamil boy is separated from his father, given a Japanese name and forced to work for the kempetai, the Japanese secret police. This historical debut, longlisted for last year's Epigram Books Fiction Prize, questions how reconciliation can be possible amid the ruthlessness of war.

In this book on political economy, sociologist Chua Beng Huat examines the rejection of Western-style liberalism in Singapore and how the ruling party has forged a communitarian ideology, looking at the areas of public housing, multiracialism and state capitalism.

Chua, who is assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, traces the relationship between the United States and Singapore in this academic treatise, arguing that Singapore's post-independence success might not have been achieved so rapidly without the involvement of the US.

Half-American and having never attended a local school, the Singapore-born West was the odd one out when he was posted to the elite Naval Diving Unit during his mandatory national service. In this first-hand narrative, he recounts what it takes to become a "frogman".

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